TravTalk India Online Magazine
Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, shares the way forward for the Ministry, as the borders open for international tourists, including international promotions, working with states, and upcoming events.
Nisha Verma
Now that borders are opening, international promotions are a priority for Ministry of Tourism, says Arvind Singh, Secretary of MOT. “We are planning to launch digital and social media campaigns within this month. We also have plans to organise physical events wherever possible. Apart from our India tourism offices, the government has also nominated as many as 20 nodal officers in the missions. Hence, with their help, we intend to launch promotional campaigns,” he adds.
Focus markets
In terms of focusing on markets or countries for promotions, Singh shares, “We will target traditional markets that have been doing very well in the past, like the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, and the top 10 markets. However, we will focus on the emerging markets such as Australia, Singapore, Spain, Portugal, Japan, and Korea, where we have potential, but not many visitors. Hence, these 20 missions, where we have nodal officers are in the top 10 markets and in the top 10 emerging destinations.”
Change in promotions
While during COVID-19, all events and promotions were happening digitally, but things will change now, he says. “All events were happening in a digital mode. We were doing many webinars, or online and hybrid meetings. Now, associations are planning physical conventions and large meetings. Gradually, as vaccination improves and the number of active COVID-19 cases goes down, we will see more physical events,” he suggests. However, he adds that hybrid events will be the preferred mode as of now.
Scheduled Flights
Ever since visas have opened, the industry has been requesting to restart scheduled international flights. Singh agrees, “The industry has been in touch with us. They have also been talking to the MoCA, and the government is aware of this concern. The challenge is how to increase the number of seats available since we are all operating in an air bubble regime and the demand seems to be going up,” he adds.
What comes next
After the tourism and culture ministers’ conference of southern region and the ITM in Nagaland, Ministry of Tourism is planning a meeting with the tourism ministers of all the states, reveals Singh. “Once the situation normalises, we can plan a meeting of all the tourism ministers in the country,” he adds.
International travel shows
While the Ministry of Tourism delegation from India did not attend the WTM this year, Singh shares that the event saw participation from Indian tourism representatives in London. However, the response was quite moderate. Regarding participation in more such events, he adds, “With international travel easing, there will be confidence to organise and participate in more physical events.”
Going digital
Ministry of Tourism is working on expanding NIDHI 2.0. “We want to expand it to include a database of tour operators and other stakeholders. We have set up a self-certification system, making it much more robust. We are also working on the national digital tourism mission, which will link all the stakeholders in the system on one platform, as has happened in the case of the health sector. There will be many digital initiatives, which have been one of the highlights of COVID-19 and have resulted in a shift to digital forms of communication and the use of more information technology based applications.” he confirms.
Speaking about the single window clearances for infrastructure development in states, Singh asserts, “Everything we are doing, including the national digital tourism mission, are all steps towards making it easier to get all the permissions. All the players of the industry will be linked digitally, and information will flow seamlessly. Hence, the increased adoption of the digital applications and techniques by the states will help in the process.”
Film tourism
Sharing that recently they had conducted a symposium on film tourism in Mumbai, Singh claims, “We had a very good response from nine states that participated and showcased their products. Positive feedback came from representatives of the film and motion picture industry, television channels, and others who attended the event. In fact, many states have come up with policies where they are giving incentives and trying to make it easier for filmmakers to get permission to shoot in their states. It was good to get the industry and the states together, and we plan to continue these series with other states too. Hopefully, that will lead to easier shooting permission in the states and attract filmmakers to come and shoot more within the country, instead of going abroad and spending more money on foreign exchange.”
Rural tourism
After 2020 World Tourism Day, there has been a lot of focus on rural tourism, assures Singh. He adds, “There will be development towards rural tourism. We also have a strategy papers ready, as well as draft guidelines for homestays, which are mainly in the rural areas, and these guidelines will be circulated to all the states very soon.” However, when it comes to homestays or alternate accommodation, Singh says that the goal is to collect best practices of the sector. “Some states and some parts of the country have done very well. In HP, Northeast India among others, one can see good examples of homestays. Hence, one of the institutes under the ministry has tried to collect all these practices. We have discussed it with the players who were active in this sector and have tried to come up with guidelines that will encourage other states to also go down the same path,” he stresses.
National Tourism Policy
When asked about the long pending National Tourism Policy, Singh says, “Many things have changed. The policy will be launched soon.”
Amrit Ka Mahotsav
With regards to it, celebrations for 75 years of Indian independence, Singh reveals, “Every ministry has been given a week, which is known as an iconic week, where they have to launch events. Ministry of Tourism’s iconic week is in July 2022, and at that time there will be major events that we will be undertaking.”
